The simple interest earned by a certain amount of money varies jointly as the rate of interest and the time (in years) that the money is invested. If $140 is earned for the money invested at 7% for 5 years, how much is earned if the same amount is invested at 8% for 3 years? Solution: So since this is a simple interest problem here is the formula we'll be working with: I=PRT, where I is the interest earned, P is the investment, R is the interest rate and T is time. We have two steps. 1) Find P given I, R, T. $140 = (P)(7%)(5) =$400 2) Find I given P, R, T. I= ($400)(8%)(3) =$96 A farming field can be ploughed by 6 tractors in 4 days. When 6 tractors work together, each of them ploughs 120 hectares a day. If two of the tractors were moved to another field, then the remaining 4 tractors could plough the same field in 5 days. How many hectares a day would one tractor plough then? Solution: If each of 6 tractors ploughed 120 hectares a day and they finished the work in 4 days, then the whole field is: 120⋅6⋅4=720⋅4=2880 hectares. Let's suppose that each of the four tractors ploughed x hectares a day. Therefore in 5 days they ploughed 5⋅4⋅x=20⋅x hectares, which equals the area of the whole field, 2880 hectares. So, we get 20x=2880 x=2880/20=144. Hence, each of the four tractors would plough 144 hectares a day. A triangle has a perimeter of 50. If 2 of its sides are equal and the third side is 5 more than the equal sides, what is the length of the third side? Be careful! The question requires the length of the third side. The length of third side = 15 + 5 =20 Answer: The length of third side is 20 The diameter of a circular park is 98 m. Find the cost of fencing it at $4 per meter. Circumference of the park is = 2πr = 2 (22/7) x 49 = 2 x 22 x 7 = 308 m Cost for fencing is = 308 x 4 = $1232 The angle of elevation of the top of the building at a distance of 50 m from its foot on a horizontal plane is found to be 60°. Find the height of the building. Solution : Draw a sketch. Here, AB represents height of the building, BC represents distance of the building from the point of observation. In the right triangle ABC, the side which is opposite to the angle 60° is known as opposite side (AB), the side which is opposite to 90° is called hypotenuse side (AC) and the remaining side is called adjacent side (BC). Now we need to find the length of the side AB. tanθ = Opposite side/Adjacent side tan60° = AB/BC √3 = AB/50 √3 x 50 = AB AB = 50√3 Approximate value of √3 is 1.732 AB = 50 (1.732) AB = 86.6 m So, the height of the building is 86.6 m.